Free Origins by Mark Henrikson Page A

attention a moment longer.
    “Ramming speed?”  Gallono asked in openmouthed awe.  “You definitely attached your balls right this morning.”

Ch apter 8:  The First Step’s a Dozy
     
    Professor Russell couldn’t imagine a slower three-mile drive in the history of mankind than his road trip to the mysterious warehouse district.  They managed to catch the traffic lights when they were green, but that didn’t matter much in Cairo since drivers only obeyed the flow of traffic, not the color of the signal. 
    Adding to their difficulties, the bridge over the River Nile was exceptionally crowded for a Monday morning and the entrance to the warehouse district was tough to find since there were no signs saying ‘secret passage entrance this way.’  It was as if the place didn’t want to be found.
    In all there were ten good size warehouse buildings inside the complex.  On the surface everything looked like your typical industrial business park.  There were delivery and transport trucks coming and going while all around men and women walked from their cars to start the workweek. 
    The one exception was a small 1,000 square foot building near the southwest corner of the complex.  There was no activity whatsoever, and the GPS coordinates pointed precisely to that structure. 
    Alex pulled the Range Rover up to the front door of the suspicious building with no corporate logos or business hours posted.  There were no windows or loading docks either, just a single locked door. 
    Being a mechanical engineer who worked for a field archeologist, Alex was no stranger at unlocking things that didn’t want to be opened.  She calmly pulled out her lock picking tools, which consisted of a tension wrench and a nail file.  She stepped up to the lock but stopped when she realized a 26-pin lockset doorknob protected the building’s secrets. 
    “Well now that’s just rude,” Alex stated sarcastically.  “Most locksets only have 6 pins.  The most I’ve ever come across was 12 and that door led to the University’s mainframe servers which housed student grades, donor lists, and private research results among other highly protected pieces of information.  I’d say this is a good indication we’re onto something important here.” 
    Professor Russell tried to put on a stern face.  “The data servers?  I knew your grades were too good to be true when I hired you,” he joked.
    “It’s amazing how easy it is to make an “F” look like an “A”.  The next time we’re out for a beer remind me to tell you the story,” Alex said with a laugh.
    “The door?” Dr. Andre prompted.
    “Will you be able to work your magic here Alex, or is this game over for us?” Professor Russell asked.
    “I can get us in, but I’ll need to get a bit more sophisticated.  Unfortunately, that means using my lock pick gun and having my ear pressed to the door for a while.  That’s going to look a bit conspicuous to people driving past I’m afraid.  Are you sure we should proceed?”
    The professor pursed his lips, cocked his head, and turned his eyes skyward for a few seconds of contemplation.  “We’re going to pretend the rules of the road extend to other activities in this country.  We’ll go no matter what the signals say until something dangerous makes us stop.  Alex get your tools.  I’m going to reposition the truck to conceal as much as we can.  Then Dr. Andre and I’ll make a human wall in front of you and keep an eye out for anyone taking notice.
    “The worst case is someone calls the authorities, they show up, we present our dig right order from the government, and the good doctor explains the situation.  It won’t keep the discovery private, but it’ll keep us all out of jail; something to which I’m rather partial.”
    Everyone nodded in agreement and set about their respective tasks.
    Alex had the door opened after ten very anxious minutes and from what they could tell, the group was fortunate not